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Spoiled Cats - or Happy Family?

6/28/2018

Can You Spoil a Cat?

Cats are easy to spoil, when you love them as much as we do in our family. But, is it a bad idea to spoil a cat? And what does that ‘spoiling’ really mean anyway?

ShiShi and Haku are basically house cats. They have free roaming inside our screened patio (when they haven’t torn the screens climbing after lizards, at least!) We also take them outside on leashes to explore nearby parts of our neighborhood, and more recently we’ve been adventuring at a local park. Our long-term goal is that they will be flexible tempered cats who travel easily to many different places. But for now, a good 95% of their lives is spent in one tiny territory – our house.

The wildcats that our indoor cats were bred from establish territories that cover hundreds of miles (although females generally roam less than males.) And even a feral domestic cat will claim a territory that covers many acres. That’s a whole lot of area, with a massive number of interesting things for a cat to sniff, inspect, hunt and poke around in, while our whole yard + house is well under a ½ acre in total.

The Family Cat

I don’t think that ShiShi and Haku are stressed in any way by not being able to roam that kind of area, but I do believe that maximum stimulation at home helps to keep them healthy and happy. That’s where all this ‘spoiling’ comes in. And yes, I totally understand that this isn’t what works for everyone. We all have to find our own path when it comes to the best way to incorporate a pet into the family. But it really, REALLY works for us. Our two very ‘spoiled’ cats are by far the most generously loving and joyful of all the cats we have been blessed with over time.

Our cats know that they are an integral part of our family, and they pay us back with unlimited love. They are always ready to snuggle with an angst-y teen, eternally ready to keep company while chores are being done around the house, and they carefully guard the doors or migrate from bed to bed all night long to keep us safe. There isn’t a member of our household who doesn’t believe that THEY are both kitties' favorite, because of all the ‘extra loving’ they receive. And with six humans at home most days, that’s saying a lot!

Before you start to wonder about my definition of spoiling, I’m not actually that fond of giving my cats lots of treats (except when training for a desired behavior, or playing tricks-fur-treats), so that’s not the spoiling that I’m talking about here. It’s more about the other things that we choose to do with our cats that non-cat-spoilers often don't understand. At all.

It’s not that I have argument with those other 'don't spoil them' opinions – it’s more that I want to share what is working so very well for us. In this age of fewer personal interactions and connections, more people than ever before are turning to their pets to fill in that gap. And in turn, the desire for a new kind of closeness with our pets is leading to a new way of treating these generous and loving companions.

The Nitty Gritty of our Cat Spoiling

One of our favorite tried-and-true spoiling methods involves keeping a cute basket in the middle of our dining room table for the kitties - most especially Haku. (Our whole family laughed so hard in sympathy when we saw a photo of a French cat eating Christmas dinner with his family, while sitting in the bread basket!) Poor Haku gets so depressed if he’s left out of meal times that we’ve been known to pull up a chair for him if we need all the table space for a large meal! Does he get his meals served at the table? Nope – he just really wants to be part of the important activities that we do together. And we enjoy his company, especially when one or the other of us is eating alone with our busy schedules.

And then there are the two stools that I often set in the middle of the kitchen for our cats to jump up on and watch while I’m cooking. And yes – I even hold up interesting things for them to sniff while I’m fixing dinner. They love to check out the different ingredients, and I laugh SO hard at their funny faces when they smell something that they don’t like. Honestly, if I could only manage capture those looks digitally (and the pepper sneezes!) I’d probably have made my first million by now…

Of course, there are many other examples of this ‘spoiling craziness’ – like building temporary cat forts if we have unending bad weather. And taking time out to do tricks-for-treats training if the kitties are acting bored or asking for attention. Our cats are simply never yelled at or sprayed down with a water bottle or anything else when something goes wrong. Instead they are picked up and gently moved with a sad face and a hug. Believe it or not, this works great for behavior modification – they listen! Basically, ShiShi and Haku are treated the way we would want to be treated ourselves – with love and respect for their needs to remain healthy, connected and interested in life.

Is there a right’ kind of spoiling for a cat? Maybe. I think that there is, at least for us. That answer is definitely going to vary for every cat-blessed family, though. Do you ‘spoil’ your cats too? And how?

Training Tip of the Day:

People often comment to me about how they wish that their cats were 'cuddlier' or more social in other ways. Don't be shy of using (healthy!) treats to reinforce the social actions that you'd like to enjoy with your cat!

If you want your cat to sit in your lap, tempt them with treats to bring them close while you are sitting down. If you want your cat to snuggle in bed with you, do the same. If your cat doesn't allow petting, or hates to be picked up - same! Over time, most cats will learn that good things come from doing that action and that it is safe and happy, and will do it without the reward of treats. If they eventually stop, repeat all over again - it's totally worth it!

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Cat Hike Training First Adventure

6/4/2018

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Preparation for Adventure

It took seven long months training the cats to wear their harnesses and walk comfortably on leashes, but we finally did it! We took ShiShi and Haku out on a real hiking trail at a nearby park. I would tell you that it was anticlimactic, but it really wasn't. Truth is, we were all totally stoked for our little cat hike, and took hours to wind down from the excitement when we got home. Except for Haku - he crashed!

Happily, the park is only a short drive from home and thus not too much car torture for that first cat trip! It's also real easy on the eyes with a small flower garden, a few short trails through the surrounding woods, and even a public boat launch. And, most importantly for our first adventure, I've almost never seen dogs there on past visits. Fortunately, our cats do great with dogs, but I've been worried about dogs who are allowed to run off leash. (Yup - a common problem.)

I love that there's LOTS of room at the park for us to explore with the cats in the future before we move on to anywhere with a longer drive or a park that’s challenging in other ways. Hopefully we'll be able to go a bunch of times in the coming weeks. Several other local parks are on our radar as well, but I’m just not feeling like our cats are ready for more input with mega dog encounters to be had at one, and long sandy trails at the other.

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On Our Way

We've been debating for weeks about which cat should go on an adventure away from home first – ShiShi or Haku. It was such a toss up trying to choose! ShiShi is usually MUCH better about actually walking (with paws on the ground!) when she is out on leash around our house/neighborhood, while Haku is hugely more tolerant of the backpack.

In the end, we decided that it would be best to take both cats at once - with three people to watch and be prepared if there was trouble.

**Side note (I really MUST get another of those Pettom Carriers – that thing is just the BEST!) I’m so glad that a friend recommended it – wish that I’d got one sooner instead of sticking it out with our first pack, which is too small and makes both kitties nervous with the tight space.**

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The Hike at Phillippi Park

Our 45 minutes cat hike (we probably didn’t even go a quarter mile) was AWESOME! Haku and ShiShi were both asking to be let out of their backpacks almost instantly when we got out of the car, and I relented as soon as we got to the woods. Poor Haku kept trying to beeline back to the car for a few minutes, but eventually decided that he’d better follow ShiShi instead, who was forging ahead.

No fear for that girl! ShiShi's basic hiking theory is go everywhere, explore everywhere, and then forge ahead again. Fortunatley for Haku, she was willing take time out of her busy schedule to touch noses when he finally caught up with her.

After a lizard incident, though, it was SO hard to coax her to move along. In a total surprise switch, Haku became the cat who forged ahead. It was completely unexpected because he has only ever been willing to walk returning home from a walk around our neighborhood (and the lazy bum gets carried on the way to wherever we are going!) I think that he actually would have done the whole trail circuit easily if ShiShi hadn’t been poking along so much after that lizard, and the noseeums hadn’t come out for an early evening feast (I suspect they were hiding in the aforementioned poison ivy patch).

In the end, both cats were happy enough to turn around and head back, although I'd wondered if they would be a pain about it. The only incident we had at all was when Haku startled at the sound of a kid screaming happily at the nearby playground when we'd almost made it out of the woods. He turned tail and dragged me right back past ShiShi and down the path again, poor guy.

True to his usual form, Haku was totally sacked when we got home and barely budged for the rest of the night. ShiShi, on the other hand, told me all about her adventure (endlessly!) and prowled for hours looking for more fun. We are definitely heading back to the park as soon as weather and time permit – an A+ playground for cats, and awesome fun for us too!

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Training Tip of the Day:
Patience, patience, patience. I honestly think that the reason this first bigger adventure went so well is the gradual way that I have led up to it. Over the last 7 months, I spent several weeks introducing the harness/leash indoors, and same with the backpack later on. It was another month of exploring our very tiny yard (both cats were terrified of even that for weeks) before I ventured in tiny increments into the neighborhood (I’m talking sometimes only a few more feet/day). It can seem like it takes forever to get a skittish cat used to these things, but the payoff is so huge that it’s easily worth the effort!

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Like our backpack? You can check it out here:

Pettom Backpack

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